Blood cleaner device

ABSTRACT

A BLOOD CLEANER DEVICE COMPRISES A FLAT BAG-SHAPED CONTAINER OF FLEXIBLE TRANSPARENT SHEET MATERIAL, AND LIQUID TUBES INSERTED INTO THE CONTAINER AT ONE END THEREOF, SAID LIQUID TUBES INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE INLET TUBE FOR INTRODUCING BLOD INTO THE CONTAINER, A BLOOD CLEANING AGENT AND A PHYSIOLOGICAL SALT SOLUTION, A BLOOD TAKE-OUT TUBE, AND AN OUTLET TUBE FOR DISCHARGING THE BLOOD CLEANING AGENT. AN OPEN END OF THE OUTLET TUBE WITHIN THE CONTAINER IS LOCATED NEAR THE END OPPOSITE TO THAT OF THE CONTAINER FROM WHICH SAID LIQUID TUBES ARE INSERTED THEREIN, OR NEAR THE UPPER END OF THE CONTAINER WHEN IT IS IN AN OPERATIVE POSITION, WHEREBY THE BLOOD CLEANING AGENT, AFTER CLEANING OPERATION, IS DISCHARGED FROM THE CONTAINER THROUGH THE OUTLET TUBE BY SIPHON ACTION.

May 23, 1972 Filed D60. 30, 1969 INVENTOR.

United States Patent C 3,664,814 BLOOD CLEANER DEVICE Norio Koremura, Tokyo, Japan, assignor to Jintan Terumo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan Filed Dec. 30, 1969, Ser. No. 889,245 Claims priority, application Japan, July 8, 1969, 44/53,666 Int. Cl. A61m /00 US. Cl. 23258.5 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A blood cleaner device comprises a fiat bag-shaped container of flexible transparent sheet material, and liquid tubes inserted into the container at one end thereof, said liquid tubes including at least one inlet tube for introducing blood into the container, a blood cleaning agent and a physiological salt solution, a blood take-out tube, and an outlet tube for discharging the blood cleaning agent. An open end of the outlet tube within the container is located near the end opposite to that of the container from which said liquid tubes are inserted therein, or near the upper end of the container when it is in an operative position, whereby the blood cleaning agent, after cleaning operation, is discharged from the container through the outlet tube by siphon action.

This invention relates to a blood cleaning device for removing a serum-hepatitis virus contained in blood used for blood transfusion.

Serum-hepatitis caused as a side effect in blood transfusion has posed a problem in recent years. In order to avoid the occurrence of serum-hepatitis which is due to a serum-hepatitis virus, consideration has been given to the cleaning of such blood so as to get rid of the serumhepatitis virus.

The operation of cleaning blood, however, has been greatly difficult in the absence of a suitable device. A prior art device for this purpose comprises, for example, a flexible bag and various tubes simply communicating with said bag, said tubes including an inlet tube for feeding blood, a cleaning agent, a physiological sodium chloride solution and the like into the bag, an outlet tube for removing the cleaning agent, and a blood take-out tube. In operation, the bag containing these components is, first, bent and hung over a horizontal bar at a boundary portion between the precipitate of blood and the cleaning agent, and then, the cleaning agent is discharged, and the blood after repeating the above cleaning operation must also be taken out from the bag in the same way.

For this reason, the cleaning bag must be selected to have a longitudinal length of the order of one meter, and handling of the device is extremely troublesome.

The present invention has its object to provide a blood cleaner simple and convenient to operate and thus provides a blood cleaner device comprising a flat bag-shaped container made of a flexible transparent material, a blood take-out tube having one end communicating with said container at one end thereof, an inlet tube communicating with said container, and an outlet tube for discharging a cleaning agent [from container by utilizing the principle of siphon.

This invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description when taken in connection with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blood cleaner embodying this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the manner of operation of the device; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a part of the device showing a modification of the invention.

3,664,814 Patented May 23, 1972 'ice In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 indicates a flat, expansible bag-shaped fluid-tight container made of a soft, transparent plastic sheet material to permit external observation of the status of the blood contained therein. The container is in the form of a rectangle having a longitudinal length of about 20* cm., and communicates at one end thereof with an inlet tube 2 for separately introducing blood, a blood cleaning agent and a physiological salt solution into said container 1, an outlet tube 3 for discharging the cleaning agent from the container 1 after blood cleaning, and a blood take-out tube 4 for taking out clean blood for blood transfusion. The inlet tube 2 is provided with a clamp 13 at a part of its length thereof and connected to a blood collecting needle 5 at the forward end thereof. The outlet tube 3 is also provided with a clamp 6 and has its one end greatly extending inwardly of the container 1 as adjacent the end of the container opposite to that at which the outlet tube 3 is introduced. In other words, said open end of the outlet tube 3 is located adjacent the upper end of the outlet tube 3 when the device is in an operative position as shown in FIG. 2.. Although the inwardly extending portion of the outlet tube 3 is shown to be curved, it may take other form, provided that the open end thereof is located near the upper end of the outlet tube during operation, since the top of the liquid is discharged therethrough by utilizing the principle of siphon or siphonage. The passway of the blood take-out tube 4 is closed by means of an interception membrane -7 which serves to seal off the inside of the container from the atmosphere. The blood may be taken out through the take-out tube 4 by piercing the interception membrane 7 with a blood collecting needle or the like. The reference numeral 8 indicates a cap for keeping the outwardly projecting end of the take-out tube 4 in a sterilized condition, and the numeral 9 designates an opening used for vertically suspending the container 1.

In operation, the collecting needle 5 connected to the inlet tube 2 is pierced through a blood storage bottle to collect the blood, and thereafter the clamp 13 is closed.

As shown in FIG. 2, after blood collecting, the container 1 and a supply vessel A containing, for example, liquid glucose as a cleaner agent are respectively suspended on a stand B in such a manner that the vessel A is placed higher than the container 1, and then intercommunicated with each other through the inlet tube 2. The clamp 13 is then opened thereby allowing a suitable amount of the cleaning agent viz about eight times the amount of the blood collected, to be fed into the container 1 and at the same time permitting the entire amount of the air present in the container to escape outwardly through the outlet tube 3. It will be apparent that care should be given not to cause air to stray into the container when the blood and glucose are being fed thereto. Upon incorporation of a predetermined amount of glucose, the clamp 13 is closed to render the container fluid-tight, and the container is repeatedly finger pressed, with the result that the blood is cleaned by the action of the glucose. The container 1 is then kept still till the red blood-corpuscles are precipitated owing to the ditference in specific gravity. When the condition of separation of the clean blood and the blood cleaning agent becomes stable, the clamp 6 of the outlet tube 3 is opened. A top liquid containing the major component of glucose is gradually discharged through the outlet tube 3 by the principle of siphon. The clamp 6 is again closed when the top is completely removed to allow only the clean blood to remain.

The cleaning operation may be repeated usually, say, three times to obtain blood almost free of a serum-hepatitis virus. After cleaning in the manner described, the clamp 13 of the inlet tube 2 is opened to introduce a predetermined amount of a physiological salt solution so as to regulate blood concentration. The blood thus obtained may be preserved or used immediately for blood transfusion. In the latter case, the blood may be transfused in an ordinary manner after piercing the interception membrane 7 with a collecting needle (not shown) connected to a separate transfusion tube.

According to this invention, the container can be miniaturized to have a longitudinal length of the order of 20 cm. Further, the cleaning operation is greatly simplified since the device can be used in a suspended position due to the fact that the cleaning agent is discharged with siphonage through the outlet tube having its open end located in the container in the vicinity of the upper end thereof in an operative position.

More than two inlet tubes may be used in lieu of the single inlet tube 2 shown in FIG. 1 to serve exclusively for diflerent liquids to be introduced. For example, three tubes 10, 11 and 12 may be connected to the container to respectively feed blood, a blood cleaning agent, and a physiological salt solution, as shown in FIG. 3 wherein the reference numerals 3, 4, 7 and 8 indicate like portions in FIG. 1.

What is claimed is:

1. A blood cleaner device comprising a flat bag-shaped container made of flexible transparent material, a blood take-out tube communicating with said container at one end of the container, an inlet tube communicating with said container, and an outlet tube extending into said container through said one end, said outlet tube having an end thereof located in said container adjacent the end of the container opposite to said one end for discharge of fluid from the container by siphon action, the flexible material of the container and its thickness being such that when air is squeezed out and said siphon action proceeds, the walls of the container collapse to prevent reentry of air and maintain the siphon action.

2. The blood cleaner device of claim 1 wherein said take-out tube has a puncturable membrane which seals off the interior of said container from fluid flow through said take-out tube.

3. The blood cleaner device of claim 2 wherein a portion of said take-out tube is external of said container and said portion is covered by a cap adapted to maintain sterility of said portion.

4. A blood cleaner device of claim 1 having a plurality of inlet tubes communicating with said container.

5. A blood cleaner device of claim 4 wherein said plurality of inlet tubes communicate with the container through said one end of the container.

6. A blood cleaner device of claim 1 having an integral portion on the end of the container opposite to said one end by which the container may be vertically suspended.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,064,647 11/1962 Earl 23-2585 3,399,040 8/1968 Ilg 23-2585 3,078,847 2/1963 Wandell et a1. 23-2585 3,467,095 9/1969 Ross 23-2585 X SAMIH N. ZAHARNA, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 210-94 

